India Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare Report Q2 2014: New Research Report Available at Fast Market Research

Boston, MA -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/10/2014 -- Pharmaceutical firms in India are reporting improved performance for the quarter ended December 2013. This is an early indication of a recovery in the Indian pharmaceutical industry, following the implementation of the Drug Price Control Order in May 2013. While we forecast strong growth for the sector in 2014, persisting issues such as the halting of clinical trials, low healthcare expenditure and company-specific manufacturing quality control problems will continue to pose downside risks to our outlook.

Headline Expenditure Projections

Pharmaceuticals: INR904.0bn (US$15.4bn) in 2013 to INR995.8bn (US$17.2bn) in 2014; +10.2% in local currency terms and +11.2% in US dollar terms.

Healthcare: INR4,214.5bn (US$72.0bn) in 2013 to INR4,646.2bn (US$80.1bn) in 2014; +10.2% in local currency terms and 11.3% in US dollar terms.

India's Pharmaceutical Risk/Reward Rating (RRR) score for Q214 is 51.8 out of the maximum 100, in our newly improved RRR system. The country scored above average for some indicators and sub-indicators including overall market expenditure, sector value growth, population growth. Nevertheless, it scored below regional average for most indicators under industry and country risks. Consequently with the moderate score, India is ranked tenth, behind New Zealand, out of the 19 key markets in Asia Pacific.

Key Trends And Developments

- From March 1 2014 a total of 46 drugs will be classified in India under a new category called 'Schedule H1'. Medicines listed on Schedule H1 can only be dispensed by a pharmacist with a prescription given by registered medical practitioners. Retailers are also expected to maintain separate records of sales of these medicines for at least two years. Drugs that are listed on Schedule H1 include third and fourth generation antibiotics, anti-tuberculosis medicines and other drugs in a bid to address the issue of drug resistance in the country, resulting from the improper prescription and consumption of antibiotics.
- In February 2014, just days after Mylan announced the launch of its biosimilar trastuzumab in India, which was developed in partnership with Indian firm Biocon, Roche was granted an injunction in the High Court of Delhi against the biosimilar. Roche markets trastuzumab under the brand name Herceptin, and also markets it in India under the brand names Herclon and Biceltis. It is indicated for the treatment of HER2+ metastatic breast cancer.

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